The intersection of Delancey Place and 20th Street is arguably the best address in town. Down the block is the Rosenbach Museum and Library, up the street towards Rittenhouse Square are hip restaurants and at the center of it all is Jt Christensen’s studio: christensen. The designer has transformed the storefront into a decorator’s delight, the window constantly changing with aspirational furniture, decor, objet and art. Jt Christensen makes a big deal out of art, the Kyle Fisher show of astounding wood panels transcribing nature into abstract art with extraordinary detail and level of craft mashed with a futuristic vibe of the design the artist extracts from the wood is just beautiful.
studio: christensen participates in the Center City Fourth Friday art crawl and has a Third Thursday fashion photography night, it’s so fun to watch from the street and see the photographers working with the models and a reminder of the natural sophistication of Philadelphia.
studio: christensen
333 south twentieth st
philadelphia pa 19103
Tuesday-Saturday 12-7
or by appointment
2673866036
jtdesigns2@mac.com
Missing a super short video clip on Anthony C and Karen MYouTube channel is sublime, a word DoN doesn’t get to use often. Anthony C and Karen M take their work to the street and see beyond the visual chatter interjecting their own thoughtful tags to the narrative of public art in Philadelphia. Read more about the artists at Side Arts Philadelphia art blog.
The reason DoN is promoting Kodak is because they are an American manufacturing company in Rochester, NY, USA, Planet Earth, Milky Way, they invented digital photography and they recently declared bankruptcy. Kodak has a long history, “Kodak has made it easy to enjoy your pictures. The expression ‘You Press the Button, We do the rest’ was a common advertising slogan in the 1890s. This familiar expression was also set to music. Visit our interactive history of Kodak products to listen and see some of today’s latest digital products and our early film and cameras from the 1880s.” Kodak website. DoN used a Kodak Brownie camera growing up and still relies on the reliable quality and customer support of Kodak for his Kodak Easyshare Z981 14 MP Digital Camera with Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 26xWide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Lens and 3.0-Inch LCD Sreen to create images for DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia art blog and Side Arts Philadelphia art blog. So, did DoN pick a loser in Kodak as an advertising affiliate? Coffee did shoot out DoN’s nose as the news of Kodak’s bankruptcy crawled across the bottom of Morning Joe brought to you by Starbucks.
DoNArTNeWs is using affiliate marketing, peppering the text with hyperlinks and ads, to generate revenue to move to an improved WordPress platform; clicking links and ads may take you to website for companies like Kodak which DoN personally uses in his art or blogging or to related resources like artist’s websites. If you buy a product as a result of clicking a link in the art blog or the DoNArTNeWs sidebar a commission is generated for DoNArTNeWs.
Hayley Tomlinson, One Accolade I Must Achieve To Become A Successfully Working Artist, digital print featuring a hand made ribbon at Prelude Gallery, January 13th, 2nd Friday in Center City.
DoNasked Hayley Tomlinson about the eclectic collection of art objects she’s showing at Prelude Gallery including photography, prints, fiber and needle-work. “I‘m interested in everything. I do some blogging on Tumblr and what I really like is looking at the images on Tumblr and seeing what is trending? What are people interested in?” Giggles. “What I think about is, how can I capitalize on that and how can I gain popularity and become more well known. But, also I kind of just think when I make things wouldn’t it be funny if I just made this. Like I made a drawing of a toilet in a forest of birch trees.” Giggles. “I thought it was funny because I hate the thought of having to go to the bathroom in the woods but I guess if there are toilets in there but then I guess I‘d be OK.”
“Ithink about things I desire and things I fear like how can I be a better artist? And how can I be a more successful well known artist which is what the photographs are about.” DoN noted the portraiture with ribbons and how they stand out. “There are four ribbons First, Second, Third and Honorable Mention. These two are Third Place and Honorable Mention, I think they’re the two photographs that have been most successful and most successfully represented my Adobe Photoshop skills. I was thinking, I‘m in Philadelphia and what do Ineed to do in Philadelphia to be more well known. And one is being featured on the art blog. And that ended up happening. I had an article on the art blog and they showed that photograph. The other photograph is about the blog Tumblr which I think is very important for contemporary art, especially young people in art. People see my work on Tumblr and really respond to it, then that will really help me get my name out.”
Downstairs Gallery at the Plastic Club features the work of Sylvia Fine, Phyllis Weldon, Irma Shapiro, Naomi N. Rubin and Alden Cole. Artist, Alden Cole makes sure he dedicates time in his life to be surrounded by Nature. Born and raised in New England, Cole makes several trips a year to the Northeast, lugging his paintbox and canvas’ on the train to visit his family farm or the homes of his friends, always returning with a reminder of the beauty and tranquility of the land he came from.
Blogging for DoNArTNeWs and Side Arts is one of those opportunities people talk about when they say, “Do what you love,” DoN loves writing about Philadelphia art, artists, photographers, designers, sculptors and cultural leaders of all stripes. Helping the creative community get publicity is self serving and generative simultaneously resulting in the opportunity to publish this book. Thank you to the Philadelphia art community for accepting DoNArTNeWs and DoN Brewer on Side Arts as a reliable art review resource . Thank you to Philly Side Arts for helping DoN think bigger. Thank you to Lilliana S. Didovic for trusting me with Her Philadelphia Tales, The Art of Lilliana S. Didovic (Volume 1).
Richard Harrington, 1956 T-bird , gouache on paper at The Philadelphia Sketch Club“The Annual Domenic DiStefano Memorial 2012 Juried Works on Paper Exhibition”.
Lisa Lawinski Buchler, Acacia Tress and Bleeding Hearts, mixed media, The Philadelphia Sketch ClubWorks on Paper 2012
Lisa LawinskiBuchler, Acacia Tress and Bleeding Hearts, The Philadelphia Sketch Club“The Annual Domenic DiStefano Memorial 2012 Juried Works on Paper Exhibition”
Judy Engle,Loft Life with Ginger Cat, mixed media collage with tape at Philadelphia Sketch Club“The Annual Domenic DiStefano Memorial 2012 Juried Works on Paper Exhibition”.
Judy Engle’s tape collage, Loft Life with Ginger Cat, has a depth and density that is confusingly 3D. Judy told DoN that friend’s told her that tape would deteriorate but the artist has found just the opposite. Ignoring the negative feedback, Judy Engle had both of her entries accepted into the exclusive exhibition and took home an Honarable Mention award.
Judy Engle, Philadelphia Sketch ClubWorks on Paper 2012. The reflected light is from the large window over the Winner’s Wall, you may even notice the model ship on the sill and the skylight which makes the gallery/studio so appealing for making art.
The Philadelphia Sketch Club“The Annual Domenic DiStefano Memorial 2012 Juried Works on Paper Exhibition”, through January 21st, 2012, is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the variety of media, ideas and combinations of materials that constitutes art made on and with paper. Excluding photography, the show displays exquisite works by many of Philadelphia finest artists; the first place winner Harry S. Camarda’s In Thought, a magnificent charcoal drawing that recalls the era of Thomas Eakins, a PSC founder, and reaffirms the mission of the Philadelphia Sketch Club - where artists grow.
Tecu’Mish Munha’ke, Put on Your Big Girl Panties and Cowgirl Up, threeassemblages at The Plastic Club.
Tecu’Mish Munha’ke submitted three assemblages for the New Members 2012 exhibition, Put on Your Big Girl Panties and Cowgirl Up, Out of Order (a large assemblage sculpture that grabs your attention) and Feed Me. Take that all you Untitlers out there!
At first glance DoN thought this languid landscape was by Robert Daniel Bohne’ but then DoN overheard someone say that she, Cary Galbraith, painted with Bohne. The cross influences artists have on each other is one of the best parts of being involved in an art group like the Plastic Club and is a hallmark of the Philadelphia art scene.
“Leon Graff was born in South Africa and was trained in South Africa and London. He has lived and exhibited in London, Seattle, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia and New York City. His paintings hang in many private collections in New York City, Philadelphia, Canada, Florida and Europe.” - Fine Art Liasons website
Leon Graff’s paintings capture the vibrancy and fun of the thriving Philadelphia art scene. Congratulations to the New Members of The Plastic Club. Learn more about the art club in DoN’s interview with Bob Jackson on the PhillySide Arts blog. Member’s of the Plastic Club looking to expand their web presence and consolidate their social networking links may consider an artist portfolio page on Side Arts.
Kevin Lehman, The Need for Fundamental Change @ University of the Arts, Hamilton Hall Public Arts Initiative, Broad and Pine Streets, Philadelphia.
DoN walked past the sculpture vitrines in front of the University of the Arts and it appeared one of the sculptures had been pulled loose. It was January 3rd and the Mummers Parade crowd can get pretty rowdy, generally Philadelphians are art friendly but you never know. DoN felt anger and disgust that someone had damaged a public art piece, especially since some very beautiful and ephemeral pieces have graced the vitrines over the years with no vandalism.
But, this piece looks like it was moved across the plaza. In the light of day the reality of the installation came together - the sculpture had actually pulled itself loose from it’s mooring near the grand stairs to the Temple and crawled to the garden wall leaving a trail of wire and debris behind. In the garden, pod-like ceramic pots are birthing televisions and computer monitors, while the master motherboard hovers nearby protecting the brood. Smaller pots have already invaded the farther reaches of the Japanese-ish stone garden connected by umbilical cords of red wire to the mother pods. Kevin Lehman’s studio is in Lancaster PA.
Kevin Lehman, The Need for Fundamental Change is the artist’s MFA Thesis Exhibition through January 15th, 2012. For more information on the Hamilton Hall Public Arts Initiative contact jgirandola@uarts.edu
DoN was reading the art blog on the Huffington Post and came across a story about a sand castle artist. DoN attended the Sanding Ovations Sand Castle competition on Treasure Island, Florida in November 2011 and was impressed by the high content level of the sand castles created with such lowly materials. Sand castles is a misnomer because the artist’s create sculpture out of a difficult and ephemeral material. DoNArTNeWs abandoned the story as vacation pics and not Philadelphia Art related, but it was a really good show, very competitive and extraordinarily creative. And if Huff Post can cover sand sculpture art, so can DoN.
The metaphors and memes are just all over this category of sculpture from fading beauty to art as play to time conquers all. The term sand castle just blows up with memories of childhood beach days. Sanding Ovations exposes art to the community in a fun, understandable if confounding way and creates an experience design that’s inspiring to kids and adults.
First Place Prize and Sculptors Award Winner at Sanding Ovations.
The sand castle metaphor is apropos for artists who have to pull together disparate elements creating an object like a painting to be accepted by the community as a work of art. Like herding cats, DoN chases after elusive grants, competes for wall space in art shows, makes new art, visits art shows, writes and promotes daily, constantly developing the DoN brand. The sand castle DoN is working on now includes this blog, Contributing Writer to Side Arts, a tech start up, Philly based company, offering an excellent web presence for artists and DoN is near completion of a new book about Lilliana Didovic based on her art and the reviews DoN has published on DoNArTNeWs and Side Arts.
Karen M commented she hadn’t seen DoN around much lately, he’s been building sand castles and the wind and the waves slow his progress. But, today The Philadelphia Sketch Club and The Plastic Club have openings with an abundancce of art and artists, last night DoN experienced Kile Smith’s, Vespers with Piffarothe Renaissance Music Band and The Crossing at Old Saint Joe’s Church in Old City - there’s another show today, if you can get tickets, the music, singing and orchestration is transcendental. Talk about castles made of sand, about forty singers and musicians come together and produce an hour of spectacular beauty that wafts away on the breeze like a sand castle erodes from the weather.
Author and art-marketing consultant Alyson B. Stanfield, of ArtBizCoach.com, focuses on sharing the artwork directly with potential buyers through electronic and traditional communication outlets—in a manner that is comfortable, not artificial. Artists match Internet marketing strategies with sincere personal skills to take charge of their art careers.
The book includes online worksheets and downloads.
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